Creating the Digital Environment
For the animated section of the LAEP film, our team was tasked with developing a digital environment to show how clean energy could flow through a city.
The challenge was to make this world feel alive with energy lines interacting naturally with buildings, streets, and infrastructure.
Foundations
Recreating an urban area at scale is no small task.
We began by building a 2D footprint from map data and vector drawings, which was then constructed into 3D space. This process established the structural base for all animated sequences.
Location Selection
Working from the storyboard, we identified key settings to feature: residential streets, inner-city views (at both street level and from above), and a wider perspective showing the city within its surrounding landscape.
To keep production efficient, detailed modelling was focused only where the camera looked, while non-visible areas were kept minimal.
Animating Energy
To visualise clean energy networks, we created dynamic glowing lines that moved fluidly through the environment. These were generated in Cinema 4D using sweep nurbs (a method of building flowing cables along paths) and animated with null-rigged cameras (a setup that gives smooth and precise camera control).
Once animated, the sequences were brought into a game engine where we refined textures, colour, lighting, and effects. This workflow provided both visual quality and fast render times.
Rendering & Delivery
The result is a vibrant, immersive digital cityscape that communicates how joined-up energy planning can transform urban environments on the path to net zero.
